This quake was another good lesson in how you can tell the magnitude of a quake from far away. The longer the shaking lasts, the bigger the magnitude. So while shaking was not too bad (shindo 3, but long frequency and dizzying), it went for AGES so you knew it was a big one

Large tsunami warnings in place....

Magnitude 7.4 in Tohoku, 3m tsunami warning in Hokkaido and Tohoku. Stay safe!

Biggest quake in many years

Mash Battle Ep 048: Walk The Dinosaur! THE WINNING TRACK! YouTube video by Tokyo Digital Crew

Okay here we go!
2145 The winning mash track!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoBD...
2200 Tokyo Tonight with fewer friends, more AI and robots
www.youtube.com/live/Fz_HWRZ...
2300 Tokyo Afterparty with your requests!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5vL...
Come join me!

"Friendflation": Japanese Youth Are Saving Money By Cutting Out Friends - Unseen Japan Japan joins a worldwide trend of limiting your social network as the cost of having friends becomes prohibitive.

You may laugh but this is the rest of your future

“Friendflation”: Japanese Youth Are Saving Money By Limiting Their Social Networks unseen-japan.com/friendflatio...

Applications for Japanese-language test close early amid surging demand - The Mainichi TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Applications for certain levels of the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test, widely used as a requirement for foreign nationals' employ

Govt makes language tests mandatory for visas, test provider closes test applications early due to too many applications...

Applications for Japanese-language test close early amid surging demand mainichi.jp/english/arti...

Japan-based airlines report record 429 cases of in-flight smoking in 2025 - The Mainichi TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Major airlines based in Japan reported a record 429 cases of smoking on board domestic and international flights in 2025, the transpo

Yep, Japan government is paying for courses to teach foreign residents the rules of Japan...

Japan-based airlines report record 429 cases of in-flight smoking in 2025 mainichi.jp/english/arti...

Japan toilet maker Toto halts some orders due to naphtha shortage - The Mainichi KITAKYUSHU, Japan (Kyodo) -- Leading Japanese toilet maker Toto Ltd. said Monday it has suspended new orders for some products including modular bathr

Assholes making problems for assholes

Japan toilet maker Toto halts some orders due to naphtha shortage mainichi.jp/english/arti...

Japan, S. Korea to launch vice-ministerial foreign, defense dialogue - The Mainichi TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan and South Korea plan to launch a vice-ministerial-level foreign affairs and defense dialogue framework, with the first meeting

Takaichi deserves credit for overseeing the most meaningful improvement in relations with Korea that I have seen in my 27 years here

Japan, S. Korea to launch vice-ministerial foreign, defense dialogue mainichi.jp/english/arti...

Toyota's new basketball robot wows crowd in Tokyo with smooth shooting and dribbling - The Mainichi TOKYO -- Toyota Motor Corp. has recently unveiled its new humanoid basketball-playing robot,

Actual quote: "we have created something that is not embarrassing to present to the world."

Toyota's new basketball robot wows crowd in Tokyo with smooth shooting and dribbling mainichi.jp/english/arti...

Police issue warnings to 21 youths in Tokyo's Kabukicho in bid to prevent crimes - The Mainichi TOKYO -- Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers issued warnings to 21 individuals aged between 13 and 19 around the so-called

I assume Tokyo MPD now has a Minority Report style "Precrime Division"

Police issue warnings to 21 youths in Tokyo's Kabukicho in bid to prevent crimes mainichi.jp/english/arti...

Japan diesel sellers ran price cartel through monthly meetings, execs tell prosecutors - The Mainichi TOKYO -- Eight gas station operators are suspected of repeatedly coordinating diesel fuel prices for corporate customers in Tokyo in a price cartel ca

I still remember a former Japanese manager I had, a part time law professor, lecturing me how bid rigging was a wonderful part of Japanese culture...

Japan diesel sellers ran price cartel through monthly meetings, execs tell prosecutors mainichi.jp/english/arti...

Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Ind. reaches settlement over suicide of worker assigned overseas - The Mainichi OSAKA -- The family of an engineer who took his own life while on assignment in China has reached a settlement with Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. in

This is crazy and sad.

Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Ind. reaches settlement over suicide of worker assigned overseas mainichi.jp/english/arti...

Japan weather agency adopts 'cruelly hot day' as new term for temps upwards of 40 C - The Mainichi TOKYO -- The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) announced on April 17 that it has chosen

I remember Australia also needing to develop new temperature map colors for above 50C. Just a few years ago, reaching 40C at all was historic. It is already normal

Japan weather agency adopts 'cruelly hot day' as new term for temps upwards of 40 C mainichi.jp/english/arti...

Japan gov't to study legality of using voices for AI-cloned content - The Mainichi TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Japanese government will establish a council of experts to discuss whether the unauthorized use of sound data in artificial intel

Japan is both in law, and as a matter of policy, relatively AI friendly. I certainly see issues with cloning identifiable voices without consent, but training is reasonably settled as ok in Japan

Japan gov't to study legality of using voices for AI-cloned content mainichi.jp/english/arti...

Japan MSDF destroyer sailed through Taiwan Strait on Friday: sources - The Mainichi TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Friday, diplomatic sources said, drawing a stron

China is upset but it routinely sails navy ships between Japanese islands

Japan MSDF destroyer sailed through Taiwan Strait on Friday: sources mainichi.jp/english/arti...

Japan extends financial support to teach foreigners local rules - The Mainichi TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Japanese government has begun financially supporting municipalities' efforts to help foreign residents better understand local co

I mean, good to get help following byzantine rules, but also this is addressing a fake premise that foreign residents don't follow rules, and puts the burden of coexistence on the foreigners

Japan extends financial support to teach foreigners local rules mainichi.jp/english/arti...

A humanoid robot sprints to victory in Beijing, beating the human half-marathon world record - The Mainichi BEIJING (AP) -- A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of Chi

Lol, this is fine...

A humanoid robot sprints to victory in Beijing, beating the human half-marathon world record mainichi.jp/english/arti...

Okay Tokyo Tonight topics time!

Mash Battle Ep 048: Walk The Dinosaur! YOU VOTE, YOU DECIDE THE WINNER!! YouTube video by Tokyo Digital Crew

Check out the new mash battle! Listen and vote!

Mash Battle Ep 048: Walk The Dinosaur! YOU VOTE, YOU DECIDE THE WINNER!! www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaXb...

This is great -listening now while doing some late work. Thank you!

Over 70% of Japan highschoolers use AI, mostly as study assistant: survey - The Mainichi TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A total of 73.7 percent of Japanese high school students are using conversational artificial intelligence, with the most common purpo

Actually this seems like a low number mainichi.jp/english/arti...

Man bites woman at cherry blossom park in Japan, dies shortly after Senior citizen passes away shortly after being arrested and taken to hospital by police.

I see several things wrong with this story

soranews24.com/2026/04/08/m...

Drink vending machines disappearing in Japan as number drops to lowest in 30 years In the land of vending machines, what’s behind the biggest single-year decrease ever for soft drinks?

If anything I was expecting more vendimg machines with depopulation soranews24.com/2026/04/11/d...

Combini Tourism: The Latest Japan Travel Obsession - Unseen Japan "Grocery tourism" is popular on TikTok. But Japan's ahead of the curve - its convenience stores are already popular tourist destinations.

Rushing hole now, picking topics - this makes sense to me

unseen-japan.com/combini-tour...

Mash Battle Ep 047: Bittersweet Symphony! YOU VOTE, YOU DECIDE THE WINNER!! YouTube video by Tokyo Digital Crew

A new mashbattle is out - Bittersweet Symphony - vote for the mashup you like best, A or B!

Mash Battle Ep 047: Bittersweet Symphony! YOU VOTE, YOU DECIDE THE WINNER!! youtu.be/68qS5Q29hxY?...

It's natural to be curious but I'm also sympathetic to the fact she wants to keep it private as part of legal advice she has, and the police dropped the charges. But yeah, pretty nightmarish to be woken up and detained for 46 days with no idea why

Mash Battle Ep 046: Randy Walters is....! THE WINNING TRACK! YouTube video by Tokyo Digital Crew

Here we go!

2145 Winning Battle Mash! youtu.be/8pQ8XPZ3axM?... 2200 Tokyo Tonight: Japan Cracks Down on Foreign Residents, Crime, & Facing Global Pressure
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jrk-...
2300 Tokyo Afterparty
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiaQ...

See you there!

Bumping this to the top of my topic list for tonight. This is some DAMN stuff - and much credit to Sundai Love for going through it all